Molecular Epidemiology of Western Equine Encephalitis Virus, South America, 2023–2024

Aline Scarpellini Campos; Ana Claúdia Franco; Fernanda M. Godinho; Rosana Huff; Darlan S. Candido; Jader da Cruz Cardoso; Xinyi Hua; Ingra M. Claro; Paola Morais; Carolina Franceschina; Thales de Lima Bermann; Franciellen Machado dos Santos; Milena Bauermann; Tainá Machado Selayaran; Amanda Pellenz Ruivo; Cristiane Santin; Juciane Bonella; Carla Rodenbusch; José Carlos Ferreira; Scott C. Weaver; Vilar Ricardo Gewehr; Gabriel Luz Wallau; William M. de Souza; Richard Steiner Salvato

doi:10.3201/eid3009.240530

Molecular Epidemiology of Western Equine Encephalitis Virus, South America, 2023–2024

Aline Scarpellini Campos
, Ana Claúdia Franco
, Fernanda M. Godinho
, Rosana Huff
, Darlan S. Candido
, Jader da Cruz Cardoso
, Xinyi Hua
, Ingra M. Claro
, Paola Morais
, Carolina Franceschina
, Thales de Lima Bermann
, Franciellen Machado dos Santos
, Milena Bauermann
, Tainá Machado Selayaran
, Amanda Pellenz Ruivo
, Cristiane Santin
, Juciane Bonella
, Carla Rodenbusch
, José Carlos Ferreira
, Scott C. Weaver

Vilar Ricardo Gewehr, Gabriel Luz Wallau, William M. de Souza, Richard Steiner Salvato

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV) is a mosquitoborne virus that reemerged in December 2023 in Argentina and Uruguay, causing a major outbreak. We investigated the outbreak using epidemiologic, entomological, and genomic analyses, focusing on WEEV circulation near the Argentina‒Uruguay border in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. During November 2023‒April 2024, the outbreak in Argentina and Uruguay resulted in 217 human cases, 12 of which were fatal, and 2,548 equine cases. We determined cases on the basis of laboratory and clinical epidemiologic criteria. We characterized 3 fatal equine cases caused by a novel WEEV lineage identified through a nearly complete coding sequence analysis, which we propose as lineage C. Our findings highlight the importance of continued surveillance and equine vaccination to control future WEEV outbreaks in South America.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1834-1840
Number of pages	7
Journal	Emerging Infectious Diseases
Volume	30
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3009.240530
State	Published - Sep 1 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). All rights reserved.

Funding

This study was supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul and the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (grant no. 23/2551-0000510-7). R.S.S was supported by National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (grant no. 07/2022). G.L.W. had support from a CNPq–1D productivity research fellowship (307209/ 2023-7). W.M.dS. was supported by Burroughs Wellcome Fund (grant no. 1022448), and Wellcome Trust–Digital Technology Development award (Climate Sensitive Infectious Disease Modelling; 226075/Z/22/Z). S.C.W. was supported by National Institutes of Health (grant nos. AI12094, U01AI151801, and AI121452).

Funders	Funder number
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul
Burroughs Wellcome Fund	1022448
Burroughs Wellcome Fund
Wellcome Trust	226075/Z/22/Z
Wellcome Trust
National Institutes of Health (NIH)	AI121452, AI12094, U01AI151801
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz	23/2551-0000510-7
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico	07/2022, 307209/ 2023-7
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Epidemiology
Microbiology (medical)
Infectious Diseases

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.3201/eid3009.240530

Cite this

Campos, A. S., Franco, A. C., Godinho, F. M., Huff, R., Candido, D. S., da Cruz Cardoso, J., Hua, X., Claro, I. M., Morais, P., Franceschina, C., de Lima Bermann, T., dos Santos, F. M., Bauermann, M., Selayaran, T. M., Ruivo, A. P., Santin, C., Bonella, J., Rodenbusch, C., Ferreira, J. C., ... Salvato, R. S. (2024). Molecular Epidemiology of Western Equine Encephalitis Virus, South America, 2023–2024. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 30(9), 1834-1840. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3009.240530

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title = "Molecular Epidemiology of Western Equine Encephalitis Virus, South America, 2023–2024",

abstract = "Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV) is a mosquitoborne virus that reemerged in December 2023 in Argentina and Uruguay, causing a major outbreak. We investigated the outbreak using epidemiologic, entomological, and genomic analyses, focusing on WEEV circulation near the Argentina‒Uruguay border in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. During November 2023‒April 2024, the outbreak in Argentina and Uruguay resulted in 217 human cases, 12 of which were fatal, and 2,548 equine cases. We determined cases on the basis of laboratory and clinical epidemiologic criteria. We characterized 3 fatal equine cases caused by a novel WEEV lineage identified through a nearly complete coding sequence analysis, which we propose as lineage C. Our findings highlight the importance of continued surveillance and equine vaccination to control future WEEV outbreaks in South America.",

author = "Campos, \{Aline Scarpellini\} and Franco, \{Ana Cla{\'u}dia\} and Godinho, \{Fernanda M.\} and Rosana Huff and Candido, \{Darlan S.\} and \{da Cruz Cardoso\}, Jader and Xinyi Hua and Claro, \{Ingra M.\} and Paola Morais and Carolina Franceschina and \{de Lima Bermann\}, Thales and \{dos Santos\}, \{Franciellen Machado\} and Milena Bauermann and Selayaran, \{Tain{\'a} Machado\} and Ruivo, \{Amanda Pellenz\} and Cristiane Santin and Juciane Bonella and Carla Rodenbusch and Ferreira, \{Jos{\'e} Carlos\} and Weaver, \{Scott C.\} and Gewehr, \{Vilar Ricardo\} and Wallau, \{Gabriel Luz\} and \{de Souza\}, \{William M.\} and Salvato, \{Richard Steiner\}",

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doi = "10.3201/eid3009.240530",

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Campos, AS, Franco, AC, Godinho, FM, Huff, R, Candido, DS, da Cruz Cardoso, J, Hua, X, Claro, IM, Morais, P, Franceschina, C, de Lima Bermann, T, dos Santos, FM, Bauermann, M, Selayaran, TM, Ruivo, AP, Santin, C, Bonella, J, Rodenbusch, C, Ferreira, JC, Weaver, SC, Gewehr, VR, Wallau, GL, de Souza, WM & Salvato, RS 2024, 'Molecular Epidemiology of Western Equine Encephalitis Virus, South America, 2023–2024', Emerging Infectious Diseases, vol. 30, no. 9, pp. 1834-1840. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3009.240530

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T1 - Molecular Epidemiology of Western Equine Encephalitis Virus, South America, 2023–2024

AU - Campos, Aline Scarpellini

AU - Franco, Ana Claúdia

AU - Godinho, Fernanda M.

AU - Huff, Rosana

AU - Candido, Darlan S.

AU - da Cruz Cardoso, Jader

AU - Hua, Xinyi

AU - Claro, Ingra M.

AU - Morais, Paola

AU - Franceschina, Carolina

AU - de Lima Bermann, Thales

AU - dos Santos, Franciellen Machado

AU - Bauermann, Milena

AU - Selayaran, Tainá Machado

AU - Ruivo, Amanda Pellenz

AU - Santin, Cristiane

AU - Bonella, Juciane

AU - Rodenbusch, Carla

AU - Ferreira, José Carlos

AU - Weaver, Scott C.

AU - Gewehr, Vilar Ricardo

AU - Wallau, Gabriel Luz

AU - de Souza, William M.

AU - Salvato, Richard Steiner

PY - 2024/9/1

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N2 - Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV) is a mosquitoborne virus that reemerged in December 2023 in Argentina and Uruguay, causing a major outbreak. We investigated the outbreak using epidemiologic, entomological, and genomic analyses, focusing on WEEV circulation near the Argentina‒Uruguay border in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. During November 2023‒April 2024, the outbreak in Argentina and Uruguay resulted in 217 human cases, 12 of which were fatal, and 2,548 equine cases. We determined cases on the basis of laboratory and clinical epidemiologic criteria. We characterized 3 fatal equine cases caused by a novel WEEV lineage identified through a nearly complete coding sequence analysis, which we propose as lineage C. Our findings highlight the importance of continued surveillance and equine vaccination to control future WEEV outbreaks in South America.

AB - Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV) is a mosquitoborne virus that reemerged in December 2023 in Argentina and Uruguay, causing a major outbreak. We investigated the outbreak using epidemiologic, entomological, and genomic analyses, focusing on WEEV circulation near the Argentina‒Uruguay border in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. During November 2023‒April 2024, the outbreak in Argentina and Uruguay resulted in 217 human cases, 12 of which were fatal, and 2,548 equine cases. We determined cases on the basis of laboratory and clinical epidemiologic criteria. We characterized 3 fatal equine cases caused by a novel WEEV lineage identified through a nearly complete coding sequence analysis, which we propose as lineage C. Our findings highlight the importance of continued surveillance and equine vaccination to control future WEEV outbreaks in South America.

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AN - SCOPUS:85202000300

SN - 1080-6040

VL - 30

SP - 1834

EP - 1840

JO - Emerging Infectious Diseases

JF - Emerging Infectious Diseases

IS - 9

ER -

Molecular Epidemiology of Western Equine Encephalitis Virus, South America, 2023–2024

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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